Railway-rail joint



April 20 1926.

4 L. SMITH RAILWAY RAIL JOINT Filed Nov. '6,.1925

25 Sheets-Shes?l 1 o l. v r Q v n@ Aff 9'/ 7a2/Ziff ff? i l '57 /fiApri1'2`0 1926. -Y 1 L. SMITH RAlLwAY RAIL JOINT Filed Nov. 6. 1925 2Sheets-Sheet 2 f/ (7 wv.

@51, MTM I Patented pr. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES PAI-ENT OFFICE.

LUTHER SMITH, or NoRRIsToWN, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGNoR 0E oN-E-TENTII' PERCENT To WILLIAM GREEN, TWo-TENTIIs PER CENT To HAMPTON STEWART, Two-TENTHs PER CENT Toy WILsoN sooTT, TWo-TEN'TIIs PER CENT To MONTGOMERYWILsoN, AND Two-TENTIIs PER CENT To SMITH DARBY, ALL or NoRRIsToWN,

PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-RAIL JOINT.

Application mea November e, 1925. serial Na 67,440.

To all 107mm t may concern:

Be it known that I, LUTHER SMITH, ay citizen of the United States,residing at Norristown, in the County of Montgomery and StateV ofPennsylvania, have invented certain newv and useful- Improvements inRailway-Rail Joints, of`whi`chthe follow'- ing is a specification.

rl`his invention relates to certain newua-ndA useful improvements in.railwayA rail joints', and in railway chairs' usedy in connectiontherewith.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide'meaus for so supportingthe confronting ends of the rails attheir point of junction as to forma. smooth continuous track and overcome the tendency tofsag at thatpoint', and thusto obviate the necessity' of constant repairs.

Another object of my invention isto so connect together the rails at thepoint of juncture aste avoid the possibility oftheir working loose atthat point.

A further Volcjecty of my inventionis-to so construct the rails' and thechair in which they are placed as to strongly and durably support theirends and thus give them llong life at the point where they are now mostinclined to wear.

"With these and other objects? in view which may be incident to myimprovements7 the inventionconsists in the parts and combinations to behereinafter set forth and claimed, with the understanding that theseveral necessary elements comprising my invention,l may be varied! inconstruction, proportions and arrangement,` without de'- partino' fromthe spirit andscope of'the appen ed claims;

In order to make my invention more clearly understood, I haveishown inthelaccoinpanying; druvings.v means? for;l carrying the same intopractical-eect-without limit'- ing the improvements in the-ir usefulapplications to` the particular constructions, which Ifor thelpurpose-"of explanation, have beenmade the subject of iillustration.V

llnthef'drawings; V

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my'im'- proved railY joint as itappears in use;

Fig. 2 i-s a central horizontal vsectional view of Fig. l; l

Fig. 3 is a section taken'on the line 3-3 ofjFig. l;

F ig. et isa section taken on theline 4;-4 of'Fig'.' 14; f

F ig. 5 isa section taken on the line' 5-5 of Fig; l;

Fig. Gis a perspective view showing the configi'iration of.- one end ofa rail,

Fig. 7 is aw perspective view of the confronting end of the oppositerail;

Fig. 8 is a.' perspective view ofthe joint orchair in which` the railends fit and are locked; and

Fig. 9 is a vertical, central longitudinal view of the rail joint as itappears when assembled. v

Referring more particularly to Figs. 6 and 7', the 'numeral 1 referstofonel en-dof a railway rail and the numeral 2 refers tothe end ofanother 'rail made inv accordancel with my design, and the. numerals 3kand 4 refer to the confronting ends of said rails which are adapted tohe locke-d together, as will more fully hereinafter appear. 4Each end ofeach rail/ is made precisely alike so as to permit of the use ofeitherend while-they are 'being laid, and as a description of one of them onlyis necessary, the other will .notbe particularlyk referred to' at this'time.

The web ofthefrailend, asv seen in Figures 6 and 7, is lprovided with akerf 5 extending across the end, andjust `'loeyond'this kerf is a squareopening 6 extending..` 4 partially through,l and the lower edge of theweb, for a distance correspondingto the length ofthis opening,is=beveledasfat 7 Beyond this-peint` and'to-wards the farther end of theV weh andon -theunder side-thereof, the body' is provided.-VV with `,a clepending,` retaining, or locking lug, 9-v adapted toy fit in a hole l0in the hottomfofther rail cha-irVV 11 (See Fig.. 9) and aslightdistance. beyondthis point is` a looss12.v extendingzout fromtheraillweb-and lewer-l part'of-thei Crown lil-*of the rail and integraltherewith. This boss 12 on the end facing the confronting rail isprovided with a socket 13 which forms a seat for the reception of a boltto be presently described.

Referring to the perspective views shown in Figures 1 and 8, we see arailroad chair comprising a base 11 and a body 1/l integral therewith,the former provided with spike holes 17 for the reception ot the spikeswhereby the chair is fastened to the railroad ties. The body has ahorizontal slot 18 see Fig. S) for the reception of that part or" theweb of the rail heretofore described and on the further side of thechair there is a strengthening and supporting rib 19 eX- tendin thelength o't the rail chair and upon which the car wheel is largelysupported as it passes over the juncture of the rails,`the rib beingmade to extend up even withV the crown 13 of the rail.

The central portion of the body ot the chair is not so thick as the endportions, the

Vpart numbered I19 being provided with apertures at 2O and 21 (See Fig.2) for the reception of side locking pins 24 and 25. The outer ends ofthes pins are each provided with a spike head 26, the other end 'of saidpins being squared od as at 27 (except on its upper side 32) to form alocking or bolt head, and the body of the pin is surrounded by a spiralspring 28. `The pur pose of the spring is to push the pin inwardly anddrive its square head into the hole or orifice 6 shown in Fig. 6, whichforms its seat.

lin order to unlock this pin, the traclrman uses his pinch bar to forcethe head outwardly towards himself when the sameis withdrawn from itsseat.

Referring again to the side locking pins 2-1 and 25, should it becomenecessary te remove the rails, it is to be noted that in replacing therails, the downwardV pressure of the beveled edge 7 comes upon therounded upper edge 82 ot' the lock head of the pin and by reason of thecontour of the lock head forces the pin outwardly against the pressureof the spiral spring, the latter receding unt-il the orifice 6 comesopposite and slightly below the lower edge of the lock head, when thespiral spring drives the locking pin back into its seat in the oriiice 6in the web.

The numeral SO represents a central lock bar. lts body is -[iat andextends through the side of the vchair vat its center, and through eachof the kerfs 5 in the ends of the respective rails. As seen in Fig. 2,after it passes through the web, it terminates in an elongated pin 31having a hole 32 bored lierethrough near its end into which lits acotter or other pin 33, the same standing in a recess Bf in the far sideot t-he chair. This central lockl bar lpasses thus through both sides ofthe chair and through the web of each rail and eiiectually locks bothends ot the rails and the chair together.

The side locking pins are located on the side of the chair facing theroad bed between the rails and extend through that side ot the chair andpartially into the web of the rail, but no provision is made Jfor likepins on the other side of the chair. j

The chair at each of its respective ends is provided with an integralblock 35, as is more particularly seen in Figure 8, said blocks beingprovided with dovetail passages 36 extending longitudinally therein, inwhich slide the beveled edges of a bolt 37, the bolt being provided atone end with a head 38, beyond which is a spiral spring 39, the purposeof which latter is to push the bolt head into the seat 13 in the boss 12shown in Figure 7 thus etfectually locking the ends of the chair to therail.

From the above it will be seen that the chair is strongly spiked to therail ties; that the web of' each rail at its end lits therein, itsbottom is locked to the bottom oi the chair by the locking lug 9; theend of each rail is secured by the central locking pin 3U by the sidelocking pins 24 and 25, and the cha-ir itseli' is secured to the railsby the end locking bolts 37.

ln laying the track, the chair is put in its proper position and theconfronting ends ot the opposite rails laid therein, the bolts 37 havingiirst been pushed towards one another by means of the bolt, heads 88.rlhe depending lugs 9 on the rails tall into their proper recesses inthe base of the chair and as soon as this occurs, the bolts 37 areautomatically pushed home in the sockets 18 by the springs 39 and thechair is then spiked to the tie.

The central locking bar is then pushed in through one side of the chair,the kerts in the ends of the rails Vand through the other side of thechair and the Cotter pin inserted near the extreme end of the pin. Inorder to secure further rigidity', the lock` ing pins 24 and 25 areprovided, which as seen in Fig. 1 extend partially through the web andadd their strength to hold the rails down in place and to counteract thetendency of the rails to rise immediately after the passage ot thewheels of the cars over the Joint.

"When it is desired to remove the rails, the central locking bar 30 isremoved, the trackman then uses his pinch bar to force the side pins 24;and 25 outwardly from their seats, the bolts 37 are withdrawn and therails are littedfrom their positions in the chair.

W'hile I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, I wish it to be understood that l do not confine myself tothe precise details of constructionherein set forth, by way otillustration, as it is apparent that many changes and variations may bemade therein, by those skilled in the art, without departing from thespirit ot the invention, or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

I claim l. The combination with a railway chair, the side walls of whichare apertured and the base of which is provided on either side ot' thecenter with an apertured seat, and railway rails, the confronting endsof which are slotted and adapted to lie within the chair, of a lugdepending from each rail 1 and fitting wtihin the aperturedseats in thebase of the chair, and a locking bar passing through the apertured sidewalls thereof and through the slotted ends of the rails to secure thechair and rails firmly together.

2. The combination with a railway chair, the side walls of which arevapertured at the center and one wall of which is apertured each side ofthe center, and railway rails adapted to lie in the chair, theconfronting webs of which rails at each end are slotted and near theslot provided with a recess, orn a central locking bar passing throughboth apertured walls ot' the chair and the slotted ends of the rails,and side locking bolts located in the apertures on eac-h side of thecenter, the free ends of which lit into the recesses in the webs.

3. The combination with a railway chair .having apertured side walls,and provided near each end with integral blocks having depressed waystherein, and railway rails adapted to lie inthe chair, the confrontingends of which are slotted, an integral boss having a seat on each railso constructed as to lie in place opposite the integral blocks of thechair, of a locking bar passing through the apertured walls of the chairand the slotted ends of the rails, bolts in the depressed ways of theintegral blocks ot' the chair, the free ends of which pass intothe-'bosses of the rails and lock the chair and rail securely togetherat the center and at cach end.

4. The combination with a railway chair having apertured side walls,integral blocks located near each end thereof, depressed ways therein, abase provided on each side ot' the center with an apertured seat,railway rails adapted to lie in the chair, the confronting ends of whichare slotted, and an integral boss on each rail so constructed as to liewhen in place opposite the integral blocks of the chair, of a lockingbar passing through thev apertured walls of the chair and the slottedends of the rails, bolt-s in the depressed ways of the integral bloc-kson the chair, the free ends of which pass into thc bosses on the rails,and a lug depending from each rail and iitting` into the apertured seatsin the base of the chair.

5. The combination with a railway chair, the side walls of which areapertured and the base of which is provided on either side of the centerwith an apertured seat, railway rails, the confronting ends of which areslottedv` adapted to lie within the chair, and a lug depending from eachrail fitting within the apertured seats in the base of the chair, alocking bar passing through the apertured side walls and through theslotted ends of the rails to secure the chair and rails together, of asupporting rib extending the length oit one of the side walls andintegral therewith, upon whichA the wheels of the car are carriedwithout jolt over the juncture of the rails. In testimony whereof Iaflix my signa ture.

LUTHER SMITH.

